Sound toy



E. J. MANELIA Oct. 19, 1937.

SOUND TOY Filed Aug. 15, 1956 Patented Oct. 19, 1937 SOUND TOY Ercole J. Manelia, Chicago, 111., assignor to Lee- Tex Rubber Products Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application August 15, 1936, Serial No. 96,237

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a sound toy having a rubber body which is inflatable by gas (or air) so that its walls are thereby thinned and distended. Confined within the inflated body is a plurality of small round objects, such as shot,

capable of rolling around and bouncing upon the interior surface of the toy walls to produce a sound having a certain reverberatory rumble. Such a toy is desirably connected flexibly to a handle in the form of a stick which cooperates with the flexible connecting medium to produce a noise of its own when the toy is jiggled about or swung around by the handle. The sound thus produced may resemble that of a storm with distinct wind, rain and thunder effects.

It is the primary object of this invention to produce a sound toy of the character described which is simple, inexpensive, easily operated, and entertaining to various classes of persons. All this is accomplished by a construction such as is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, where- Figure 1 is a view showing the toy as it appears when being swung around with the aid of a stick-handle; and

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the toy depending from the handle, as in the act of being jiggled about.

As shown, the toy comprises a rubber body B in the form of a balloon adapted to be inflated by gas (or air) in the usual way. The shape or external contour of the toy body is of minor importance, the round form shown being merely illustrative. At one point the walls of the body are extended outwardly to provide a neck 3 through which is a passage into the interior of the toy.

The operating handle H may be in the form of a round stick having a grooved neck 5 adjacent one end. Connecting the toy to the handle is a flexible tape 6 of two plies, one end of the tape being looped around the handle neck where it may be partially secured with the aid of a clip I. The opposite end of the tape, as shown, terminates in a knot 8, the two plies being fitted,

around the neck of the toy and then secured tightly thereupon by a slip joint within the looped end of the tape. In this way the neck may be tightly squeezed by the slip joint so as to efiectively choke the passage therethrough whereby to provide a closure against the escape of the gas (or air) which is used for inflation of the toy body.

In operation, the handle is seized and manipulated in any desired way to produce motion on the part of the toy balloon. Desirably the neck of the stick is coated with resin or other substance to produce a squeaking sound which is more or less continuous when the connecting tape is revolved therearound. In any such mo-. tion the balloon is required to trail in amore or less circular path. Only noise emanates from the handle when the toy is so operated. However, it is part of this invention to confine within the body of the balloon a plurality of objects 0 which are small, round and hard, such as shot. When the balloon is struck, jiggled or bounced (see Fig. 2) the shot will roll around and bounce upon the interior surface of the balloon. As the walls of the balloon are thin and in a condition of distention when the balloon is inflated, there is developed a rumbling sound which is produced by the hitting of the shot. In addition, the resilience of the distended walls of the balloon causes the shot to rebound time and again, with the result that this sound effect is reverberatory. By skillful handling of the toy some very interesting and almost startling sound. effects are obtained, resembling to a marked degree blowing of the wind, roll of thunder, or the hard pouring of rain, depending upon the-manipulations employed.

I claim: 7

1. A sounding toy of the kind described comprising a thin rubber body with walls adapted to the body to maintain the walls thereof in distended condition while under inflation, a plurality. of freely movable, hard, weighty objects confined within the rubber body, and a handle provided with a neck around which the flexible tie is slidably engaged at a point remote from the neck of the rubber body adapted when moved in a circular path to produce trailing movements of the body and its enclosed weighty objects with respect to the handle and causing therelatively movable parts to vibrate and produce sound.

2. A sounding toy of the kind described comprising a thin rubber body with walls adapted to be distended when the body is inflatechthere being a neck opening afiording a passage to the interior of the body, a handle, a length of flexible tape frictionally engaging said handle at one end and slip-tied to the body neck at the other end whereby to choke the passage therethrough to trap gas within the body to maintain the walls thereof in distended condition when the body is' inflated; and a plurality of freely movable' hard spherical weighty objects confined within the 7 rubber body adapted upon vibration of the body 5 to bejrolledaround and'bounced upon the dis? 'te ndedwallsr thereof to produce a reverberatory rsound, v

" 3. A sounding to y; of the kind described co n prising an inflatableiballoon body, a'plurality of i sho tlike weights'confined within the 'body, a' r neck outstanding from the'body and formed with a passage therethrough into the interior of the body, a handle, and a length of flexible tape tied around the body neck at one end and having a slip connection with the handle at its other end' adapted in response to circular leading 'moveand bounce uponthe distnded w alls of the bal loon-like body to producea eyefbe atoi y Sound/ 7 VERCOTLE J.-

mentsof' the handle to cause the shot-like weights to bethrown radially of the handlemoyements 

